THAILAND: Greenpeace, Gov’t Lock Horns over GE Papaya

The environmental group Greenpeace and Thailand's Agriculture Department have locked horns over the planting of genetically engineered (GE) papaya, with activists claiming that a government field research station is the source of genetic contamination of one of the country's most important staple foods.

ENVIRONMENT-PAKISTAN: It Feels Like Plastic, But It Isn’t

It feels and 'acts' like plastic, is slippery and is smooth to touch. But unlike real plastic, it will not clog your drains, choke marine life or hang forever on trees and electric wires. Once used and disposed of, it disintegrates.

HEALTH-INDIA: Ancient System of Medicine Survives Despite Odds

Reviving 'Siddha', the world's oldest known system of medicine, is not easy especially when many of its prescriptions smack of alchemy and depend heavily on concoctions prepared from toxic metals such as lead and mercury.

ENVIRONMENT: Mega-Amazon Research Project Holds Surprises, Both Good and Bad

"There will be many surprises, both good and bad" emerging from the studies carried out as part of the Large Scale Biosphere Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA), predicted one of the project's coordinators, researcher Flavio Luizao.

TECHNOLOGY: Rural Africa Yearning for Internet, Connectivity

In a few years, an old woman in rural Africa should be able, if all goes according to plan, to connect to the net and communicate with her children in the city.

TECHNOLOGY: Latin America Lags in R&D, Despite a Few Success Stories

Captopril is a hypertension medication that brings in billions of dollars a year for the pharmaceutical industry. Bristol-Myers Squibb holds the patent, but it was Brazilian doctor Mauricio Rocha e Silva who in 1948 isolated its basic ingredient, bradicinine, from the venom of the Bothrops jararaca snake.

SCIENCE-U.S.: Money, Politics Increasingly Influence Research

Scientific integrity, specifically in public health, is being sacrificed by political and commercial interests, according to participants in a major conference here.

AGRICULTURE: Rising Temperatures Chill Rice Production

Climate change is having even more dire consequences on food production than previously thought, say researchers who found that a temperature increase of a single degree Celsius lowers rice yields by at least 10 percent.

HEALTH: U.S. Retreats From AIDS Meet

When the world's top experts on HIV/AIDS gather to swap strategies and experiences in Bangkok, Thailand this weekend, only a tiny handful of the estimated 15,000 attendees will be representing the United States.

BRAZIL: A Cup of Decaf Coffee? Naturally

Coffee plants that naturally produce a bean with almost no caffeine could be a new niche where Brazil can expand its leadership role in the international coffee markets.

SCIENCE-ARGENTINA: New Findings Even After ‘Decade of the Brain’

The treatments for diseases like schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder and epilepsy could see improvements as a result of an important finding by an Argentine scientist: nerve cell function is not determined by genetics alone and can be altered using certain stimuli.

ENVIRONMENT: Groups Press U.N. to Protect Deep Ocean Species

Alarmed by new studies indicating the possible extinction of thousands of species in the world's oceans, international environmental groups are demanding the United Nations take the lead in banning bottom trawl fishing on the high seas.

ENVIRONMENT-JAPAN: Small Hydroelectric Dams Fill Clean Energy Gap

Amid the serene green rice fields of Kuroitsu village, in northern Japan, rises the gurgling sound of a small, man-made waterfall that powers the blades of a steel waterwheel to churn out electricity.

ENVIRONMENT: Climate Change Poses Bigger Threat to Developing Nations

Climate change experts say global warming resulting from the accumulation of greenhouse gases will not have an equal impact on all countries, but will especially hurt the poorest nations, either in terms of direct effects or due to their more limited capacity to deal with the changes.

ENVIRONMENT: Central America and Caribbean Under Satellite’s Eye

Central America has been monitoring its natural resources from outer space since the 1990s, through a project in conjunction with NASA. Now the aim is to incorporate 15 Caribbean countries into the initiative.

AGRICULTURE: Canada’s Top Court Backs Monsanto Against Farmer

Canada's top court ruled against farmer Percy Schmeiser on Friday, upholding agri-business giant Monsanto's patent on genetically modified (GM) canola, a decision observers say will have implications for agriculture worldwide.

COLOMBIA: Traditional and Biotech Efforts to Save National Flower

In a space of 250 square metres in the garden of his home in the city of Medellín, Carlos Sánchez, a retired industrial engineer, enjoys the daily pleasure of seeing several hundred cattleya trianae orchids grow.

AGRICULTURE: Activists Wary as Monsanto Withdraws GE Wheat

Activists who fight genetically engineered products are declaring victory after agricultural giant Monsanto's decision to shelve plans to launch GE wheat in Canada and United States. But some warn that the battle over the wheat, and GE crops in general, is far from over.

ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Beans May Neutralise Transgenic Debate

The heated debate about genetically modified organisms in Brazil just might escape the dead end it had entered with the transgenic soybean controversy, that is, if all goes well with a genetically modified version of a kidney-type bean that is currently undergoing field tests.

SCIENCE-BRAZIL: Coffee Joins the Mapped Genome Club

Brazil has added another trophy to its collection: the completed map of the coffee genome. The coffee bean was the driving force behind the Brazilian economy until the 1940s and the country is still the world's leading producer and exporter of this commodity.

AGRICULTURE: Seed Treaty Boosts Farmers, Fails to Weed Out GM Crops

Poised to come into force in June, the international seed treaty represents the best hope for the protection of farmers' rights and to stem the tide of patents on seeds, according to activists.